Spirit Lake and MEIDS

Well, my last morning in Haida Gwaii included an hour and a half hike around Spirit Lake. I was accompanied by Travis Glassman, the Executive Director of the Misty Island Economic Development Society (MIEDS) and Karen Church from the Haida Gwaii Trails Strategy.

It’s hard to explain the ethereal feel of Spirit Lake – the name is accurate. Spirit Lake is an easy to moderate hike full of examples of culturally modified trees – which I learned from the Haida Cultural Centre yesterday – was the traditional Haida way of harvesting wood for art, tools, weaving and even canoes without jeopardizing the life and health of these large thousand year old cedars. Karen has been studying culturally modified trees on the island for a number of years and was the perfect guide pointing out the types of tools used for the cuts in the trees, indicating what period of time the work was done. Travis, on the other hand, contributed to my learning about edible berries (of which is clearly a big fan!) and, of course, the value and significance of the modern and ancient Haida trails.

It is with some melancholy that I leave Haida Gwaii after such a short time. I grabbed a coffee in Jags cafe before I made my way over to the terminal to await the ferry to Sandspit. While in Jags, I overheard the locals discussing the preparations for the upcoming potlatch. At another table a discussion was taking place about a medicine man who could conjure spirits. I did not mean disrespect by listening to these conversations, but I was fascinated at the integration of these communities and felt there was something very special here.

Thank you to everyone who made my trip here very worthwhile.

Karin